Reality Check
by One Time Dancer
Summary: Let me tell you a story about two of the greatest heroes ever. You'll love it. Starting from the beginning, it started with these exiles, you see. And a spider bite and some living tar. Put in some ninjas and demons and we have a regular Friday night.
1. Beginning

Like so many other fics I start this one with the _end_, and retelling the entire thig. Get ready, because you're going to have to do a double take on the check you have for reality!

Man that sounded so corny!

_

* * *

You wanna hear a story? It's a story abbout two of the greatest heroes I've ever seen. Actually, I've only seen one of them, and he told me about the other one, and I took his word for it. Pretty strange huh? Yeah, that's him alright. He says they're both like that, that it runs in his family. Good. He deserves family. They both do._

_He told me he never thought he was normal at all, and I believed him. I mean, people who could clear apartment complexes in a single leap, and knock someone out with a tap to their head, usually weren't normal. Others who could stick to walls and bench press whole trucks and have a borderline precognitive sense in the back of their head were people not to be fucked with. In fact, they weren't people to even insult or joke about. But in his concrete jungle, his stomping grounds, his home, he was one of the best. He was one of the most well known._

_Replace was with would, and put in a B. The thing is, he's not grown up yet. He's got a long way to go. But from what he's told me today... I'd say he's on his way. In fact, I could summarize it up in six reasons why too._

_At first he was an orphan. A poor kid on the streets, not knowing anything but what he learned day in and day out. He was a would be legend, compared to all the possibilities before him, and yet, he was so far away from that. Because of the many differences between him, and his would be self._

_The kid was a straight up bonafied prodigy. He deserved his time in the spotlight just like everyone else, didn't he? Then why was it that he lived in one of the most darkest places of the NYC? He had no parents. No guardian. No Aunt, Uncle, sister, brother or third cousin seven times removed on his mothers side by marriage to call a family at all. He was all alone in a world of heroes._

_He wanted to be just like them. Iron man, Captain America, Wolverine. The real legends. He would take his place in the history books, as someone who protected his people, and made sure no harm came to them._

_He saw everything in red and blue. Never let anything keep him down, this kid. Always optimistic, and cheerful. He had no friends, or anyone to look up to, except a few people working at a corner store down on 5th street and Thrumond. I'd never say it out loud... but it was admirable._

_He was different. He could be powerful. Well known throughout the whole damned world in fact. Famous, rich, looked up to. He says that that potential runs in the family too. _

_Six._

_He had no idea, what the fuck he was getting into when he went to that exhibit on spiders. He didn't really understand what the hell they where saying most of the time. He just stared at the little arachnid, feeling like he could belong with them. Like, he was missing a part of him that was there, inside of him, but he could not find it. Yet._

_Who am I? Well I'm no omnipresent god or being just to let you know. No, I'm the guy who took him and raised him for a little bit. Yeah that's rigt. Just a little bit. I don't know half of the whole story, and he refuses to tell me most of it. There were fights. Lots of fights, he says. He fell alot, and he got his ass handed to him a lot too. Good. that's what he gets for being cocky._

_He says he's met some interesting people on the way. I can only wonder as I roll my eyes. He says he's met a fox too. One that likes ramen. Boy would that be a sight._

_I don't know everything. I don't want to either. I just have a tiny feeling in my gut that I'm in the presence of a hero right now, and that he's been in the presence of another one. When I ask him, rubbing his head, he grins up at me and laughs the happiest laugh I have ever heard from him._

_"My family in Konoha."_

_My nname is Nick Fury. I don't ask many questions, but I just can't help but wonder what the fuck he got himself into this time, where ever this 'Konoha' is._

_The kid has family, so what. He's with his real family right now. _

_"So how did it all start kid? How did this 'great adventure' begin?"_

_He laughs and rubs his head for the billionth time. "Well... It all started with a spider-bite I suppose... and some living tar. Yeah, that's a start. But the real action started when i met this kid with whiskeer marks on his cheeks. That's where the fun stuff begins."_


	2. Intro

He looked at the much older kids, who looked like they where in high school walk around with their tour guide. One of them caught his eye though. She had dark red hair and sparkling blue eyes that made him shiver. As he followed them, with no one noticing him yet, he listened in to their conversation.

"Why don't you just leave him alone flash?" The red haired girl said, annoyed, putting a friendly hand on a dark haired boys shoulder. "Or what? What if we don't leave him alone?" A blonde haired boy said cockily, grinned lecherously at the girl.

"Or his father will fire your father!" Yet another person from the peanut gallery spoke, laughing. The conversation would have continued longer, if the tour guide, which looked to be a teacher and if his ID card was any indication, his name was Doctor Conners, interrupted them and told them all to move on, before his eyes landed on the child's timid ones.

"And what are you doing here little one?" His skin was tan, and his head was clean shaved, giving the kid the urge to squint or get some shades. "I-I just wanted to see the exhibit… is all." He kicked imaginary rocks, looking at the ground. "Well you shouldn't go anywhere without your parents. They'll be worried sick about you won't they?" He asked, kneeling down.

The boy's heart stopped for a split second, hating having what he never had, mentioned. It wasn't that he cared, since he never knew them, but it was still a sore spot for the poor boy. Still, not wanting to be pitied, he quickly made up a lie to cover.

"Yeah. You're right mister! I'm sorry." He nodded, grinning happily, but the Doctor Conners just chuckled and shook his head. "Stay outta trouble kid." His eyes flashed a golden yellow, like a lizard's, and he laughed at the boy's shocked expression. "No way!" He whispered as Conners walked away. "I think that was the lizard!"

Unknown to him, the two high school kids were watching him. The girl said he was adorable, with his brownish black hair over his eyes and his clothes that were obviously to big for him all wrinkled. The guy however had an inquisitive look on his face, which didn't go unnoticed.

"What's wrong Harry?" She asked.

"Nothing MJ. The kid over there just reminds me of a friend of mine when he was a kid, ya know?" She nodded, seeing how that coincidence could make you think. "What's your friend's name Harry?" He started walking away with her in tow.

"Ben Reilly."

As the group of students walked away, the boy focused on the spiders once again. And was shocked to find them all crowding against the glass, as if to get closer to him. He always liked the creatures. They worked together, they worked alone. They protected and the offended as well. It was like a never ending battle of polarity with them. They were warriors in their own right as well as predators of the worst kind. Agile, fast, strong, and solitary amongst others. He just felt like he belonged with them somehow.

It wasn't hard to believe that in all of his musings, he didn't notice a red, black and blue spider, along with some black goop, racing down towards him from the ceiling.

Peter Parker, the 5 year old child from the slums of Queens, New York, was just about to have his life changed forever.


	3. Prologue: Part 1

_Edit:_

_Fixed grammatical errors_

_Fixed crappy NARM parts_

_Fixed paragraph layout and punctuation._

* * *

It had been five days since his little _visit_ to the exhibit. Five days since his life changed forever, even though he didn't know it yet. Five days since the worst headache he'd ever felt subsided and left him feeling all tingly, too.

Five days since his life changed forever. But who says that that was a bad thing?

He laughed giddily as his fingers touched the wall of his 'home'. A tingle spread throughout his body, warning him of a falling rock from the roof, which a black tendril coming from his clothes knocked out of the way with ease. That same tendril, danced around him eagerly and excitedly. He put his tiny hands on the wall and laughed again. As he did, the tingle came back ten fold, making him shudder in pleasure, his eyes closed gently as an after effect.

His clothes were baggy like always. Billowing as wind brushed past him from the window, blowing his hair back from his face. He closed his eyes and shivered. He got up with a yawn and stretched, causing his bones to crack and set themselves as he began to walk around. The place was sort of ratty... yeah, ratty was a good word for it. He lived in a freaking abandoned corner store fore Christ's sake! It was nothing special, he had no electricity of course, no heat, and barely anything to keep him warm at all.

He could remember the people here before him had left a bunch of stuff before they left... but he had no idea where they went or why, and didn't even remember what they looked like.

He couldn't stop thinking on the same train of thought: in the winter, he didn't know how he survived. New York was as cold as can be not long after fall started. It seemed that there were only two _real_ seasons the way spring seemed to be more summer than anything else, and fall skipped straight to the snow filled wonderland. It was a phenomenon he thought about a few times, but every time he recalled the winter and him trying to stay alive during it he came up with a really vague image of him waking up and feeling _really_ well rested.

He felt something tickle his face giggled responsively. A thin, small black tendril rose from his clothes and danced around. It soon disappeared though, leaving the him to his devices once again. Of course, the lack of company didn't leave him without anything to do for long. It was then that his stomach growled. He flushed a little but made his way through the room to downstairs. Making his way through all of the mess that littered the floor, which held chip bags, candy wrappers, juice cartons, and bottles of pop, and even clothes, he started to walk down the stairs, to get something to eat.

There wasn't much left, since many of the supplies had spoiled long ago. He had been on his own for a while now, a little over a year in fact. The chocolate milk had started bubbling and the cheese was, well he wasn't sure what to call it, but he was pretty sure that cheese nd bread weren't supposed to move on their own, and then graft to each other like glue. The chips were still pretty good, but not good as they used to be. Some of the pop had long ago gone flat, and it was luke warm as well, just like everything else. The bread was all moldy, causing him to pick and choose what parts were safe to eat, and which ones weren't.

That wasn't his only problem though, as bug ate away at his food as well. He couldn't recall how many times he found them in the sugar or the bread before. Oddly enough, there were spiders there too, but they seemed to gravitate around the store and eat most of the little insects, and still he avoided being bitten by them as well.

This was why a lot of the ceiling was covered in webs and dust, populated by spiders here and there, and some were hidden in the corners of the ceiling, or on the wings of the fan. Since he had no TV he just watched them sometimes, as they did well, _nothing_, everyday. Some were more interesting than others, like the ones that burrowed into the ground and grabbed ants or roaches from it to eat.

He supposed he was like the dog whisperer, except for spiders, since he was able to pick up the larger ones without a problem, and they just sat on his hand quietly, unless a fruit fly or ant was nearby, then they'd jump off and chase after them.

Walking around the isles he found what he was looking for. It was a simple lunch making pack, like _lunchables_, thought it seemed to be a more cheaper and lacking version of it to him. Because it took a long time to become spoiled if the preset date on the pack was any indication, and there were a lot of them around the store, this was what he ate most frequently, despite the dismal taste. He also was glad that it had a juice box in it, since he drank way more than he ate. Taking a closer look, he saw that there was only one left on the shelf. He frowned as he looked around. It was his least favorite one too. Pickles and granola bars with crackers and cheese powder was the most disgusting thing he had ever eaten.

He heard squeaking and scattering and looked at the ground just in tie to see a _rat_ sticking it's nose into a bag of chips. He frowned. That was _his_ food!

Just then, one of the bigger spiders looming over head in one of the stacks that hadn't been thrown out or taken out jumped down directly on the rat and sunk its fangs into it, and in a matter of seconds it had stopped trying to fight back and became almost completely still, save for the minor twitching that he found strangely amusing.

As it dragged it's prey away in a fast back pedal, Peter reached down to pick up the bag with no other reason than out of sheer childhood curiosity. The spider stopped crawled forward to his hand and stopped... and then tapped his hand experimentally and looked up at Peter for a few moments before it continued to move away. Peter shook his head. It was not the first time, and it certainly wouldn't have been the last.

Forget that that specific strain of spider wasn't a real 'native' in New York City, and no spider in the city was _that_ big. Forget that the spider was roughly a third of the rat, maybe even just as big, or that even regular specimens of its species couldn't and wouldn't have such an appetite for a big vermin.

Forget that the spider had a red hourglass pattern on it's back and forget that Peter knew none of this, and considered it a normal occurrence,

Besides, to worry about such things when you found you could crawl up walls was just... Well he didn't know, but he did know that doing it would make him pretty dumb.

On a side note, though less important to Peter at the moment, he had already gone through the 'Oh god I have super powers phase, or is it a dream, no its not a dream I have superpowers!' phase.

Though it was really awesome and great, he knew that people didn't take kindly to those with powers at all. As a matter of fact, every once in a while there was a mob hold an, 'Anti-Homo superior' party not far away. He still didn't what homo-superior meant but he had a feeling that it had to do with the mutants that had been popping up all around his part of town.

He had even seen children get beaten on because they were different, and saw that the people took pleasure in it. He was glad to have a gift, but he didn't want to be hated because of it. Besides, its not like he ever _asked_ for it anyway.

Climbing up the glass door with ease, he looked over the top and started to reach around. He touched a few boxes, a few spiders or carcasses of insects and webs before he found a box that he thought was a lunchable for him. Keeping one hand on the glass as he grabbed the box he looked at it. Nothing of interest, just another expired product that he couldn't eat and some weird dusty box with metal plating on the front. Oh well.

His curiosity spiked again and he grabbed the box and let go of his grip on the glass and fell to the ground and walked up the stairs, not noticing the black tentacle stretch out and grab a few bags of chips nearby.

Once he got up the stairs, he plopped down into a chair and looked the box over. It was getting darker and darker by the minute, as the sun was going down. Thankfully though, he could see perfectly, albeit a little perfectly to the point of him having to squint his eyes sometimes. He pried the lock of with ease, and opened the box. What was inside was a simple necklace, with an 'E' and an 'X' on it horizontally. It shone with an unnatural glow, and seemed like it was brand new. He turned it over curiously, and looked to see it had words inscribed along the back.

"_To Riho, the best leader we ever had, Treina,"_ he read aloud, as the chain glinted magnificently in eyes. His child like curiosity kicking in, he put the necklace on him, and put the box to the side. When he did, he saw the tentacle holding a bag of chips right in his face. He stared at it for a few seconds before it shook it as if saying, "Well? Take it!" He complied with a slow nod, and thanked it, before he started eating. "Thanks Benumb," he said with his mouth stuffed, as he smiled at the tentacle with his eyes closed as chips flew from his mouth.. He felt a shiver go throughout his body as the tentacle receded.

It hadn't taken him a long time to meet the symbiote. A little over a day, in fact. To be honest, he passed out after he left the exhibit on spiders with a killer headache, and felt like his head was going to explode. His whole body felt as if it was on fire, especially his wrists. When he got home, they were bleeding slightly, and had little knife like things protruding from them. That wasn't all, as there was even bigger bulges in his wrists and forearms too. He found it extremely hard to stay conscious as his balance was impaired, his eyesight began to get fuzzy, and a voice in his head was saying something he couldn't comprehend.

Then everything went black.

When he woke up, he found himself covered in a black substance that was holding him down. It seemed to be a cocoon of sorts, since he was unable to move from the neck down. That was when the voice came again, in the form of laughter. He really thought he was going crazy, like that guy that called himself Deadpool or something, and the way when on TV for interviews he always spoke of 'little yellow boxes'.

Little anecdote: Once a boy named Peter was walking in another store the guy pointed off screen at _him_ it seemed like while he was thinking about something. He went on some rant about how he didn't think that anyone else had little boxes, and asked why were his blue. _Then _he said that he knew he was talking about and said "You! What the _hell_ are you doing here? Get out! We already have our own Spider-Man! Well, he's just a kid right now but in a few years he'll be talking just as much as me! You'll see!"

He hadn't gone back since then.

After he managed to get out of the cocoon the voice began talking to him _after_ it finished laughing, and it was only then that he realized something.

He was on the _ceiling_. And then he fell down, and then he met the floor ass-first.

_-Four Days Ago-_

Peter felt his eyebrow twitch as the sound of laughter filled his ears. Not just his ears, but it was as if it was coming from his head, like _someone_ or _something_ was inside his mind and was screwing around in there. He looked around to make sure that it wasn't some psycho that broke in, and was greeted with a frightening distorted voice saying, **_"You won't find me."_**

He looked around again but nothing was there. Peter furrowed his eyebrows and rubbed the back of his head. When he stopped he noticed that the laughter ceased, and that he was still rubbing his head, but when he tried to take his hand off, he saw that neither of them were occupied at the time. He half expected some sort of evil spirit of a child to be behind him scratching his head like in that movie he heard about, and turned around.

Nothing was there.

"What the heck," were the words that came from his mouth at the time, before a slender black sliver of something appeared in his line of sight. He jumped back slightly and stared at it with squinted eyes, and saw that it didn't move. Against his better judgment, he poked it. The thing shook a little before he felt a shiver run throughout his whole body, and then a ticklish feeling. The thing, whatever it was, was tickling him under his jaw line. He heard the voice start laughing again, but more softly this time, as if it found it amusing the way it caused him to shiver.

"Wh-what are y-you?" he asked as his shivers turned into giggles, and they soon turned into chuckles. The tickling started more, as the voice simply stated, **_"Company if you'll let me." _**

Well this was a predicament! Make friends with an seemingly nonexistent voice inside your head or scream for help? The choices, the choices."I'm P-Peter." He stuttered while wondering what exactly what was going on. **_"I know,"_** the voice replied, amused, as Peter got a look of expectation on his face, and said, "Well?"

**_"What?"_**

"I… don't know. I just thought that since I told you my name you would tell me yours… I guess."

**_"Oh! Of course, I forgot. I hadn't thought about it before... but I am... _****Venom****_," _**it said hesitantly. Peter got the same feeling he did when he was embarrassed or flustered . "Venom? What kind of name is that? Why did somebody name you that?" Peter had heard weird names before; Carnage, Punisher or Kraven, or even the dorkiest ones he ever heard before, 'The Buzzard' and 'The Vulture', but never Venom.

It was kind of cool. There were so many lame names out there that it was sort of refreshing to hear a nice one for a change.

What kind of person would name their self Scorpion or the Vulture anyway?

**_"What kind of name is Peter? Who named _you_ that huh? Wait, you stole it, didn't you?"_** Venom mocked. Peter huffed slightly in annoyance. "I did! That's who! You have a problem with my name o something?" Peter asked, thinking that he was being made fun of. What was wrong with his name? 'Peter' was a good name for someone, right?

**_"You stole the name, didn't you__"_** Venom muttered sarcastically in a voice frigtheningly similar to Peter's own. "Shut up!"

_-Present-_

The little boy was drooling as he held the bag of chips in his hands loosely. He unconsciously twitched, and his leg jerked upward, as he fell to the side of the chair, asleep.

Peter stirred slightly in his sleep. His mumbles and incoherent rants by his arm covering his mouth. His snores were soft and natural while his body curled up slightly in a ball, trying to keep warm. Venom noticed this, and reached around for a cover of some sort, to keep the boy warm. It didn't have to go far, and found a quilt on a nearby couch. It was somewhat dusty and dirty, covered in orange power from chips and stains from juice. With a simple yank, it put the cover on Peter before he started to shiver.

It couldn't have its new host get sick.

* * *

The next morning Peter walked downstairs to get breakfast. The racks in the isles were emptier than they should have been, and all the bags of chips he had upstairs weren't enough to fill them at all. This didn't surprise him much though. People would come to ransack the place every once in a while. Luckily he hid the money from the cash register and the jewelry so all they could get was the food… He questioned himself if that was such a good idea now though.

The door was boarded up from the outside now though, and it was locked by chains so no one could get in. That made him laugh. If the people in charge were that stupid that they thought that people weren't resourceful enough to break in to places because a door was boarded and chained, then that was just... pathetic.

Grabbing a bag of chips and some other food, he crawled up a chair and a couple of boxes to get to a window and jumped out.

He dug into his bag of chips and in no time finished them completely.

He wiped his mouth with his shirt sleeve and unknowingly crossed a street, immersed in thoughts of… well nothing. The sound of a car horn honking filled his ears as he saw the front bumper of a car heading straight toward him. Little did he know, this occurrence would be burned into his thoughts for as long as he lived.

The ringing came back tenfold as he jumped into the air higher than any human could ever hope to and squeezed his eyes shut. The car horn faded along with the curses of the angry driver as she sped off into the distance. Peter opened his eyes to find himself clinging to a wall with ease, a good twenty feet off the ground against a building.

He nearly suffered a heart attack when he looked down and saw the distance between him and the pavement. He momentarily forgot about his situation as the tingling feeling went throughout his whole body as his fingers touched the brick wall. He climbed up with ease, smiling at the feeling before he got to the roof and grasped a chimney pipe to help get himself over the ledge.

After he got up, he heard the pipe groan and creak as he let it go. His eyes widened as he looked to it, only to find that it was crushed to a fine line like aluminum. "I crushed that pipe like paper… Cool!"

That was just the beginning.


	4. Prologue: Part 2

_Edit: 8/10_

_Grammar_

_NARM (Really corny parts) pieces_

_Punctuation_

_Deeper dialog (Depending on your point of view)_

* * *

Peter was going to stay on the building and crush some more pipes, maybe a piece of wood here, a beer can there, or something else before his stomach growled fiercely, causing him to hold it in pain. "So hungrrrryy…."

He looked around weakly, for any sign of money, or change or something of value that he could sell for money. Bottles, cans, anything! He couldn't find one scrap of it! It was times like these where he hated that people decide _now_ would be a good time to clean.

And then he realized he was on the _roof_.

He went over to the other side of the building and grabbed the end and awkwardly crawled back into an alley separated from the lot by the building he'd just came from. He would have simply walked back to the store, and if things were always easy, he would have. But alas, they aren't, and he couldn't.

A small faint tingle in his head beckoned him to move on and being the impressionable child he was, he did.

_{At that moment}_

Two children were cornered in an alley by several people; all of which looked like they were harboring bad intentions toward the two. One of them, a teenage boy, stepped forward with a mischievous grin on his face that made one of the children shiver. In his hand he held a knife, and he seemed to be admiring it intensely before he glanced toward the two.

"Now I'll ask you again," his tone started out nice and calm. "Where is the money?" One of the kids was a boy; his short black hair hung slightly over hi face and the faint marking on his cheeks made it look like he had a tattoo of some sort. He tried to stare at the older male without fear. "We don't have it! Now leave us alone dammit!"

The antagonizer laughed. "Or what? You'll _scratch_ me?" His smile turned into a grimce and his eyes flashed red, with three unmoving black dots in them. "Just try it. I'll have you crying home to mommy in no time. Oh wait! That's right! You two _have_ no family_, you little freaks!_"

Another boy stepped up from the crowd of others, looking bored. He had on a fishnet shirt of all things with an earring and his hair tied back into a spiky ponytail. "Quit being so troublesome Sasu. They didn't know. Let's just get out of here before someone sees us. This is too troublesome." He took a puff on the cigarette in his hand and rolled his eyes when the boy rounded on him and glared.

"And then you'll have to explain why you wasted the money your mom gave you to buy cigarettes, right?" The teen paled, and backed up, holding his hands up in a defensive manner before he took his place back between a blond haired girl with blue eyes and a large boy eating potato chips.

"Now," Sam turned back to the children, dramatically flipping his jet black hair and glaring at them with his equally jet black eyes. "If you don't have the money to pay the fine of trespassing into _our_ part of this hovel," he spoke with a dignified accent. "Then you'll have to pay the penalty fee. Saku," he snapped his fingers, and almost at once a girl with light, almost _pink, _red hair and green eyes appeared with a shopping cart and put them inside. She didn't look rather happy about it though.

"Thank you for riding Chiha motors. Please keep your arms, hands, legs and heads in the cart at all times. I fyou should die during the ride, then please consult the support agent nearby. Thank you again, have a pleasant day." He said with an almost sadistic tone of voice before kicking the cart out of the long alley and down the street.

_-During-_

Some people were telemarketers that were hated by the majority of the population for their horrible and annoying timing and cause, along with people working for ad agencies that sold ridiculous things that no one actually needed to just make a living. Others were hackers that stole credit card numbers and vital information to live, or in their free time would be pick pockets to make money. Some sick bastards as ugly as sin and driven by some detestable force just stayed at home and created viruses to ruin other people's day. He hated those people with a fiery passion with the might of a thousand suns…

Some people starred in porn.

Thank the merciful lord that wasn't his case.

As one of the key people of SHIELD, he didn't like his job. It had too many hard choices, to many bad consequences, and the people who held even more power over him then he did at his own job always worked behind his back, doing things he would never do. That and the paper work amount sucked big time.

Nearly twenty years of that would make anyone else go _crazy_. Like Deadpool.

Children and agents alike looked up to him. He was on posters, toys, lunch boxes, and shoes. Women swooned over him. Men envied him. He worked alongside some of the greatest people his country ever even saw. He met Captain America, who worked under him, asking _him_ for orders. He was the leader of the Ultimate branch of the Avengers, or the east coast Avengers. He had money, fame, cars, homes across the nation, and power.

And right now, he would trade it all just to get home and get some sleep before his hands fell off because of him writing too much. Well, maybe not all of it. He wasn't stupid.

He assigned his second in command Natasha, a.k.a. the Black Widow to the job for a while. He felt that she wasn't doing anything anyways. She spent her days on the warms beaches of Florida, or in the favorable part of Los Angeles, pleasuring her self with martini's and cock tails and sea food.

When not doing that and was in town she was with some fancy pants famous lawyer Matt Murdock. Nice guy, actually-but considering he was blind and could still tell what you looked like, whispered, where you were in the room, and what you smelled like, it was a bit creepy. The red haired woman even gained a bit of a gambling problem, which given how bad she was at it, was how he got her to do the job.

But that was a story for another time. He looked outside the window with a look that most would think was an angry one, but actually a tired one. The sun was going down. That was good. Now when he got home he could kick off his shoes and release his inner child self that was being suffocated by all of his work. He really wanted to play the new Avengers game they had too; he heard that he had a cameo _and_ a playable character in it. This was all before a rusting shopping cart came out of no where and got stuck in front of his car and was being pushed along. In his job he learned to think fast, as the last time he didn't it cost him his left eye.

Quickly, he slowed his car down gradually, so it could stop without any casualties. The inevitable laws of fate decided to spice things up by making his file folders with all of his finished and _sorted_ paperwork somehow opened enough to split right down the middle and one part weighing down the accelerator and the other spread to stop him from hitting the brakes instantly speeding his car up.

Things were not going his way today. Not at all. Also, he made a mental note to sue the lousy son of a mother who invented the 360 binders that wouldn't break when bended.

_-Meanwhile-_

By the time Peter had gotten to the end of the street, he could hear a loud rattling sound and screeches of tires against the road. His eyes widened when he looked up to where the sound were coming from and saw a car (Prius) trying feebly to stop while it swiveled with two children in the front. His head whipped to the end of the street, where he was, and saw nothing but an abandoned building and a newsstand.

He unconsciously grabbed the jacket that was Venom and pried it to his shoulders, revealing his bare t-shirt. _'Uh-oh.'_

He ignored what Venom began to say and ran directly toward the oncoming cart, and jumped into the it. The children looked up at him and saw he was no older than they were and looked at him in surprise. Seeing was a problem for him because he had to shield his eyes from the lights of the car. He looked to the two occupants in the shopping cart from hell and saw them shivering in fear, which they had every right to be since they would more or less become the first subject ever to be called 'human paste'.

For an extremely brief moment he wondered if he was extremely brave or stupendously stupid, because he could very well be the paste as well.

Jerking one up, a girl, from what he saw, he threw her out of the cart with ease, and just like he had did before pressed his middle fingers to his palm and fired two extremely thick strands of webbing that inflated when the hit the a buildings wall, and the ground, expanding seconds before she fell straight into it safely as his eyes glazed over to a empty silver like blue.

The other one, which was a boy, looked up at him in trepidation as he saw the lights seemingly die in his eyes instead of flicker off like they were lost forever in them. Before the child could protest, he was grabbed by the shirt, and with his rather tiny fist held attempted to free himself from the person's grasp. It was then that Peter jumped out of the cart silently and toward another wall as the car swerved wildly and the curses of the driver-albeit calm- resonated throughout the air and made his clothes that Venom made squirm ever so slightly.

His lifeless eyes glanced toward the car as it crashed into a telephone post at an intersection with another street with an empty, stoic expression. He had the other boy hanging precariously with his shirt firmly in his grasp, and the boy himself dangling from a dangerous height; thirty feet.

His palm held the rest of his body up as he started to crawl down slowly, ensuring the boy wouldn't fall to an untimely death from the pavement. As he dropped the boy down about a foot give or take a few inches, he suddenly blinked and his clothes shot out several tentacles as he gasped, his eyes turning back to there regular shade like dye being sucked from water.

_-Meanwhile-_

The driver of the vehicle cursed vehemently as his shining forehead met with the dashboard of the car and a resulting groan could be heard from the open window. Looking around, the bald eye-patched man cursed yet again at seeing his front window was cracked fiercely and some smoke was coming from the engine. That wasn't the problem seeing as he could just have it fixed rather than scrap it and sell it like some overzealous rich person would-which he wasn't- and buy another one.

Looking closer, he could see the shopping cart had been crushed from the force of the car and pinned between the vehicle and the streetlight, broken in several places and severely scratching and denting the front of his car. Though he could get it fixed, he couldn't help but curse again.

It was his favorite car! Why did he have to choose today of all days to drive it in one of the crappiest places of New York that could make Jersey seem like… like Brooklyn? Why?

Then he remembered that there were children in that cart and quickly surmised that either that had they gall to actually jump out of it to safety or by some divine intervention were saved, he didn't really care either way; they were most likely alive and safe, and not guts or screams would fill his ears and he wouldn't be badgered by the press for such a thing.

With a grunt, he opened up the door and reached down to the pedal and grabbed the large pack of paperwork in the binder and looked it over. Giving a satisfied nod of the head and smiling, he then proceeded to get out of the car and threw the binder to the ground in fury and stomped on it repeatedly before picking it up and chucking it down the street and into some trash.

Peter watched in confusion as he saw the strange man beat up the inanimate object and throw it in his direction. He ducked, wide eyed as the binder was launched down the street and caused several cats and dogs to bark in alarm as the buzzing inn his head receded. Looking back to the man, he wasn't sure if he should be afraid, or glare at him for doing that, but still he felt like he saw him before. As if on cue, the dark sinned bald man looked into his direction and groaned out loud.

"Son of a bitch…" The tall man continued to let out a string of curses under his breath, making Peter's clothes shiver in amusement. A name flashed through his mind and he could have sworn he heard Venom whisper something.

**_"Colonel Nicholas Fury, head of SHIELD. I thought he would be taller in person." _**But Peter wasn't really paying attention. Only one thing was going through his head at the moment.

_'I can shoot webs now? Cool.'_


	5. Prologue: Part 3

The man before him was one that was held in high regard by the entire city. Everyone looked up to him and admired him, and wanted to be just like him. He protected the whole city and its citizens and it was because of that that Peter held him in high regards. One day he wanted to be just like him.

Well, not bald and only having one eye. He didn't want that.

Venom inwardly snickered at the way his train of though was going just as Nick turned his way and some light from nowhere glinted off of his forehead and into Peter's eyes. The little boy squinted while he talked. "I didn't hit you right kid?" Nick asked, holding his head in his hand and rubbing the nasty looking bruise he obtained from his impact with the dashboard.

Peter shook his head. "No."

"Great." Peter was sure there was a hint of cynicism in his voice. Putting his hands on his hips he looked at his car and shrugged, before looking at Peter once more with his green trench coat billowing from an unknown source of wind, making him look very scary and creepy in Peter's opinion.

The other child, the boy, thought that too and quickly hid behind Peter and peeked over his shoulder with his shaky breaths still evident from the ordeal the young boy had just been through. Sounds of grunts of effort caused them all to look around and then behind them. The boy and the bald man were surprised, though the former much more than the latter.

Peter started to get hesitant as the scary looking man frowned at him, then at the net of webbing the girl was in before the boy ran to get her.

"Mina!" his little shouts could be heard as they bounced off of the buildings, along with his grunts as he tried to get her out of the webbing. "Get me out!" the girl said hurriedly, as her short hair got in her mouth and she spit it out fiercely. The boy tried yanking her out by grabbing her hand, but found that it wouldn't work, as he didn't have the strength to sever her from the webbing. As she bounced back, he forgot to let go of her arm and soon found himself face to face with her mouth as he was stuck as well.

"Ah!" She shouted as she attempted in vain to get the little boy away from her. He sent her a glare as he tried to push up and get out of the sticky substance, but only dug the proverbial hole deeper and got stuck even more.

The bald man once again looked at Peter with an expression that clearly said, "Tell me this is not happening. Please". Unfortunately Peter gave a shy shrug in hopes that the man wouldn't throw him down the street like a football… or a binder.

He groaned again and began to walk forth to the children with Peter standing stock still as he watched the man pull out his knife. The buzzing in the back of his head didn't go off while he watched him slowly cut into the webbing, not taking the chance of just hacking through it and having his knife suffer the same fate as the children.

"Kid, get over here," he grunted out, the kids shiver and tremble at his visage, which from their point of view looked like an evil one eyed bald dog that could shine light from the top of it's head. When he smirked a little they felt like he was going to gobble them up because he was just that scary. Peter walked up to him and looked at him, no amount of intimidation on his face.

"Yes?" the young boy asked, as the man freed half of Mina's body and Jake's chest.

"I'm guessing you did this, right?" He asked though it sounded much more like a statement.

"If I did?" Peter retorted, not realizing his words before it was too late and found himself surprised as well. Nick rolled the one eye he had and grunted.

He repressed an urge to grin, and possibly even laugh at this. The kid was either a mutant or a meta-human, but still either way doing way doing what he did was unusual in the city. The funny thing was barely anyone was comfortable with him because he always looked so serious, and this boy seemed like he had a smart mouth on him.

"That's good for you, but I know I deserve a trial." Peter's mouth continued to act on it's own, further confusing the child at how he even knew that.

Pretending to be uninterested, he continued to cut the children loose of the part black, part white webbing. In the process, he had his eyes float over to the webbing itself. Now, he wasn't one that actually paid attention to webs, he had scientists for that, but he was pretty sure that they were _not_ supposed to be _black_.

The white parts were like how a web would usually be; intricate in design even though it was a thin net, with few visible breaks in them. The black parts however seemed to stretch out at the intersections where they impacted, before they continued on.

He forcibly ripped the rest of the webbing that was overlapping itself and had been cut to some degree by his knife, letting the kids out, or at least allowing them to move on their own accord.

"What's your name kid?" Peter looked conflicted for a moment. _'What's your name?' _The thought seemed to echo out into his mind before a reply came back.

_'I'm Peter Benjamin Parker!'_

"It's Peter. Peter Benjamin Parker," he mumbled in a tone barely above a whisper but Nick caught it. Nicholas raised his eyebrow a little and his eye widened a fraction, before going back to it's regular impassiveness.

_'Parker… No, it couldn't be.' _He cast a sideways glance at the boy, who was looking up at him with his face mixed with cautiousness and excitement. His shaggy dark brown hair was matted to his face and his eyes were a dark blue. Nick's eyes widened by a fraction. _'Well shit.'_

He pulled out his phone from one of the many pockets in his jacket and dialed a number. Peter curiously watched as his expression became irked, and the sound of a slightly inebriated man's voice came from the speaker. He raised an eyebrow and quirked his head to the side curiously when Nick started talking in a very annoyed voice.

"Well I don't _care_ what palates show is on right now! I want you to pull up those files and have them ready by the time I get back," a grumble of resistance, "I'm sure Natasha would be _very_ happy to learn that you still have those _pictures _of her in the nurse uniform."

The voice yelled out in horror, loud enough for Peter to hear. Nick pulled the phone away from his ear and rolled his eyes. _"You wouldn't!"_

The head of SHIELD smirked deviously, "Oh I would. And I will too, unless you do what I asked."

_"Fine!"_ The line went dead, and Nick shoved the phone back into his pocket with a sigh. _'Threaten his _research_ and he goes berserk on you. Threaten him with Natasha, and he'll bend to your will like a love sick puppy. Damn pervert.'_

He looked down to where Peter was before, but he wasn't there. Looking behind himself, he saw a rather nervous Peter standing above the two children with a sheepish smile. He waved half-heartedly and said, "Howdy." The other two children look at him in wonder and slight trepidation. The girl had her eyes widened, and the boy looked like he'd just been asked what a million divided by thirty-seven was. When Peter took a step forward, they both backed up against the wall in fear and gasped, before fainting.

He raised an eyebrow discretely when he saw a single black appendage sprout from Peter's shoulder and stopped their fall.

Nick dialed another number and started to tap his foot impatiently when the annoying sound of the ring turned into a beep and then an answer machine. For a second he wondered who the hell still had an answer machine but then he noticed he had a limited amount of time. "Hello? Hey kid! Mulligan! Get your ass over to my house as soon as possible! I found him!" He ended the call.

Peter's head snapped up and he heard Venom whisper in an almost unsure tone. **_"Mulligan?"_** An image of a tall man in a police uniform with dark brown hair and blue eyes appeared to him, and he was rolling his eyes toward a glob of red and blue goop that was swirling over his left shoulder. **_"No wonder!"_**

Nick looked down at the child and tapped him on the head to get him out of his stupor. Before he knew it the little elf had whirled around and looked up at him with a confused frown. Peter was looking straight into the man's eye even though he was about three or more feet higher than him. "How do you know Mulligan?" For a moment Nick was sure he saw black tentacles start to come form various places in his body. With a little bit of effort, he pushed the child away.

"Calm down kid. He works for me. The question is; how do you know him?" Nick tried not to grin as Peter turned away with a scowl on his face, but even that was quickly disappearing. The thin black appendages began to dissipate into his body like water. "He's… someone we've seen around." His voice changed a little. Peter wasn't sure if that was a lie, but it didn't feel like one, even though he knew it was the entire truth.

Nick couldn't hold it in anymore. He grinned so wide he was sure his face would split. Someone he saw around; that was exactly what that disrespectful rat had said when he first met him. That same look of defiance on his face when the first met was on Peter's, along with the hint of confusion and tentacles coming from his body.

_'Damn,' _was the only thing that came to mind.

Peter for reasons unknown was a little put off by the look on the man's face and frowned up at him. Before he got a chance to voice hi concerns Nick asked, "You hurt?" and he shook his head. "No injures, aches and pains, nothing at all?" He shook his head again.

"Okay then. Where are your parents? Your house?" Nick asked as he looked at the scuff marks on his face and slightly dirty patches on his hands and sighed a little. _That,_ was a stupid question. If he did have any of those things he would be at _least_ somewhat clean!

"I don't have any. I can take care of myself just fine." Nick let out a derisive snort and pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Hello? Yeah I got into a little fender bender… Where? On," he took a moment to look at the nearest street sign, "Thurmond and 5th. Yes I'm fine. Thank you."

Venom bristled once more. **_"I have a bad feeling about this... We should go."_** Peter thought about it for a second but shook his head. _'Maybe he can answer some questions I have.'_ He felt Venom become curious. **_"Like?"_**

_'Just questions.'_

**_"What questions could he answer that I can't? I know every single thing about you."_**

Peter felt a shiver run up and down his spine and his stomach clench. _'I know, and that's one of them. I know things I shouldn't know. Things I had no idea about before; I know words I didn't even know how to spell before I went to that exhibit and got bit by that spider. It's a lot to take in. I guess.'_

He felt the creature scoff slightly. **_"You guess? Well you seem pretty darn calm about it to me. I thought you were happy about that?"_**

_'I'm five years old, what am I supposed to do? Act crazy like a lunatic? It's just a lot to take in.' _He could feel the creature crack a grin. **_"Good point. You _could_ use your powers to become a superhero."_** Venom suggested jokingly. _'I'm five!'_

**_"Now I don't see where you're going with this." _**

_'I am five years old! I can't even reach the doorknob to my room without standing on my toes!_' Venom rolled its eyes… visionary slots… whatever, and laughed. **_"Not with me you don't." _**Peter smiled a little bit too. _'Yeah, but you still talk too much.'_

Slowly, a black, oil like liquid began to seep off of the child's body and onto the ground. Peter's eyes widened in surprise. _'Come on! I was joking!' _The liquid stopped for a second, and began to rise back to his body and seep into his clothes and skin before it became invisible.

_ 'Like I said, it's a lot to take in. Who knows, maybe there's a chance you wouldn't have been at that place when that spider bit me. Where would I be then?'_ Venom shimmered ever so slightly and squirmed on his skin. **_"Lonely and dead. That car would have hit you had it not been for me."_**

_'I could have jumped out of the way on my own. You were asleep!'_ He shot back. **_"You were staring at the front bumper like a deer caught in the headlights and you know it."_**

All this time Nick had been watching him curiously. The boy had a blank expression on his face and every few seconds his expression would change; most notably from annoyed, and then somber. It went on for a couple of minutes before sirens began to sound and he saw a tow truck and a sleek black car coming down the road toward them, at least four blocks up.

"Kid," he called out, but Peter didn't answer. The child was in his own little world. **_"I don't think it's a good idea to be staying here for now." _**He shrugged again, though it was barely visible. _'And _that's_ why I'm the one doing the thinking.'_ He teased it playfully, only to have a shiver run up and down his spine violently. ****

**_"I'm serious. We need a rush, something exciting. Not hanging around with a bald pirate who can't drive right."_** Peter's eyebrows furrowed. _'No you need a rush. _I _need something to eat. Do you even know who that is? That's N-'_ Venom cut him off and gave off a "yap-yap" motion. **_"Yeah, yeah I know. Nick Fury, bald head of SHIELD, lousy driver, one-eyed pirate, and someone you look up to as a hero. Right?"_**

_'I wouldn't put it in those exact words, but yeah. Right.'_ Nick tried to get his attention again. "Kid," there was still no answer. **_"Sure you would. Say it with me; He's a bald old pirate on the sea, and the only one who can say this is me! Go on, you know you want to!"_** Finally, Nick tapped his shoulder. _"Kid."_ Peter swatted his hand away without looking behind him and stayed in his little world that he was in.

_'That's not funny at all!'_ The child thought amused, and let out a snort of laughter. **_"Sure it is. Just say it. It'll make you feel better."_**

Nick snorted a little and looked behind him to see the two children waking up finally, and walked over to them seeing as the boy didn't look like he was going to talk anytime soon. The boy backed away a little when he saw the giant in green come at him, and the girl was slowly rubbing her eyes tiredly. Peter peeked from behind Nick to look at them.

The girl had short black hair that for some reason looked like a dark indigo blue, and her skin was slightly pale. Her eyes were pale and empty, and she didn't have any pupils. Instead of wondering why he knew that exactly, he shook his head a little and looked to the boy. He had an unruly mop of hair and eyes with an animal like appearance to them (as much as one could have when their only five or six) and two barely visible markings streaking down his cheeks that looked like pikes.

The girl noticed his looking at her and backed away on the trunk and hid behind the boy while peeking ever so slightly at Peter. "Huh? Mina what are you-"he followed her eyes at the boy and became confused. "What's wrong?" The child shook her head against him and made a non-descriptive sound into his back.

Nick stepped into their eyesight and knelt down in front of both of them, his smirk almost completely gone. "Are _you_ two hurt?" The boy's eyes widened a little and he shook his head vigorously, making Nick think he heard a few snaps coming from his neck. He turned his head to the girl and asked the same question, but only got a squeak in response.

Standing straight up, he turned around to look at Peter, but e wasn't there. He looked behind him and saw that the little boy was staring up at the two other children with a curious expression. Peter never really got much interaction with other kids, since he didn't get out much, and he was kind of pressed for something to say.

Nicholas however, had no such qualms about tact and or awkward moments. He looked at the three children and sighed. One, he was positive wasn't human. His job and the experiences with the people he worked with told him that much. The other two… he wasn't sure about them. They didn't look like much. Just regular, dirty kids who'd been inn the wrong place at the wrong time he supposed. He had no real use for them except to bring them back to their parents, if they had any.

_Wait a second!_ His infinite genius failed for a second, and he over-looked the fact that no good parent would _dare_ let their children at such an age roam the streets and/or almost get hit by a car.

Duh.

All the excitement he'd obtained minutes before dissipated. They were disheveled and looked like they were really hungry. Their clothes were dirty and so were their faces. Even if they did have parents he would most likely have to report them to child services and have them relinquished to a foster home.

Peter was still staring at the two children, and the girl squeaked sheepishly and hid behind the boy's back some more. Now Peter, Nick didn't know what the hell he was going to do with him. Of course, he knew what his 'superiors' would want if they found out, and especially if they found out about that thing that was bristling at him which went unknown to Peter. Several tentacles were peeking out of his back and they wrapped around each other, forming a hand, and waved at him mockingly.

To think today he just wanted to get home and actually sleep before having to hear an earful from some nameless idiot about the escaped experiment from Oscorp. Word has it that it was unstable and highly dangerous, and they had to quarantine the whole operation while they looked for anything that could have been affected by it.

Oh, if only he knew.

His phone rang suddenly, making all of the children dart there heads up at him in surprise. He looked at the caller-ID and frown a little at the name on it, before answering the call. "Hello? Yeah, I found it. Calm down! Well I don't care if that ball of jello wants you to speak to it! We're… indisposed right now."

He took a moment to pause and then rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. "There was an accident, and my car crash." He paused and grit his teeth a little. "_No_ I'm not drunk you brat! It was the paperwork! The paper work!" Realizing that save for Peter, who was trying to hold back a laugh, the children were looking at the slightly angry man cautiously.

He tried to school his composure before saying in a tired, annoyed tone, "If you don't shut up _right_ _now_, I'll have you doing bathroom duties and handing off all of your missions to Luke!" He paused again, and a triumphant smirk graced his face. "Now, I need you to get Nebo and bring over a car. Why? Because _mine_, is thrashed! Yes I'm sure I'm not drunk!" Nick looked like he was ready to punch something, even though there was a smile on his face.

"Good. Hurry up, this is extremely important. And _don't_ tell anyone else, okay?" With a grunt, he stuffed the phone in a random pocket in his trench coat and sighed again when he saw the look on Peter's face. There was a lint in his eye, and it wasn't a good one.

Peter however was unaware of all of this and spoke something that felt so natural to him he had a hard time wondering if it was deja-vu he was experiencing. "What's wrong old man?"

Nick ignored the child who grinned up at him in a demeanor that oddly fit him well, and turned to the other children. He really had no idea what to do with them, and where there parents were, or if they even had any. When he took a step forward they both stumbled back on the car. He rubbed his nose again. "Do you two live around here?" He was hoping against hope they did, and then he wouldn't have to take care of them.

Against them however, was Peter. _He_ was someone Nick couldn't _afford_ to leave here, in this crap hole of a neighborhood. After what he saw he'd done (which Nick really want to disbelieve) it would be utterly stupid of him to.

To his chagrin, they slowly shook their heads.

"Great. Just frigging _great_." Nick muttered under his breath, so only Peter could catch it. He laughed and tugged at his trenchcoat. "Guess you shouldn't have nearly killed them huh old man?" Though it was innocent, Nick felt the urge to growl. Why did everyone find it so damn funny to make fun of his age?

A great growl echoed through the air. The girl squeaked and hid behind the boy, who was looking around trying to find what it was that did that. When it seemed like it had stopped for the time being, it started again, making all eyes fall on Peter.

He noticed the eyes on him and gulped a little. Nick raised an eyebrow at the boy, silently asking him what the hell was wrong with his stomach to be that loud. "Uh… I'm really hungry I guess."

"Goddamn! What the hell happened here?" They all looked behind Peter and Nick to see a black car pull up nearby with someone's head sticking out of it. That someone had strange white hair and a confident but amused look on his face, and two faint scars by his eyes similar to the only other boy besides Peter.

He turned his eyes to Nick and laughed. "I saw that binder full of paperwork not far away Nick. Why did you have to take your drunken frustrations out on the poor thing?" Peter looked up at Nick who looked as if he was ready to throw something again. And the nearest thing to him was… well, _him._

With a cautionary glance at him and the space a foot away, along with the faint tingle in the back of his head, Peter sidestepped away.

"It's about time you got here Nebo. I've been waiting what, an hour?" The man known as Nebo shrugged carelessly and got out of the car, revealing him to be rather tall and wearing jeans and a dress shirt. Peter rolled his eyes. He didn't think that was fitting for someone who seemed so… old.

"Nick, Nick, Nick. You know you have no sense of time right? You called me not fifteen minutes ago!" He looked behind him and saw the car and snorted, before switching his gaze to the children, sans Peter. "WWho did you hit this time? There's not going to be a lawsuit is there?" Nick grunted and pushed Peter forward a little.

"I didn't _hit_ anyone. I would've if this kid hadn't came along." There was a bit of pride in his voice when another grin appeared on his goateed face.

Nebo blanched and looked at Peter. "Okay, now I _know_ that you were drunk _and_ high at that! Honestly Nick, I'm glad your being modest, for once," Nick clenched his fist, "but this little brat? He doesn't even look like he can open a door without supervision much less stop a car."

"Believe it Nebo. _This_, is the one that got the goop." Nick said with a devious smirk, making Nebo's eyes widen. Venom however wasn't flattered by being called "goop". **_"Goop? I have a name!"_**

Nebo walked up to the boy and knelt down, before looking at his eyes. The pupils were dilated a little. "He looks exactly like…" Nick nodded somberly. "Yes, I know that. But I don't think its him. And that, isn't important right now. What _s_ however, is getting him out of here."

Peter backed off from Nebo and looked at Nick confusedly. "What do you mean, "getting him out of here?" This is where I live! I can't just leave you know!" He said while Venom was saying, **_"I told you we should've left."_**

Nick ignored him. Did you see the tow truck?" Nebo nodded and pointed over his shoulder. "A couple of minutes ago. Guy got stuck by a red light. He should be here soon though. I wouldn't want to leave this car here either. It's liable to get stolen for spare parts."

_'There's an scenario I didn't want to know about.'_ Nick picked up the two children on the back trunk and walked to the car, and opened the back door. "Hey what are you doing? Put us down!" Yelled the boy who was squirming in his ears, while Nebo had a similar yell of protest. "Don't you _dare_ put those two brats in _my_ car! Do you know how much I paid for those seats? They'll get them all dirty!"

"I'll pay for them then." Nick said while inwardly he was thinking along the lines of, _'Yeah right.'_

Nebo dropped the subject but wouldn't stop talking. "Well don't you think it's a little conspicuous to be kidnapping to dirty little kids and taking them home with you?"

"This coming from a man who peeks on women's aerobic classes. Don't start Nebo. They don't live around there, I already asked. I need to call the proper authorities and see where they live, or if they live anywhere at all." He put the two inside the car and shut the door just as the boy was ready to jump out.

"Whatever. What about the little hero here? What do you plan to do with him?" Peter had the sneaking feeling they were talking about him, and began to inch away. "I'm not sure. He has potential though."

Nebo raised an eyebrow. "How? He looks like a wet noodle!"

Nick for the first time that day was strangely calm. He raised his hand and stopped Nebo from continuing on, noticing the glare that Peter was sending his way. "I won't go into details for now. All you need to know is that he jumped into that cart," he nudged his head to the crumpled mess that used to be the shopping cart, "that was in front of the car, _threw _the two kids out of it, and into those," he pointed to the still fresh looking black and white webs that shimmered in the fading light.

Inside, Nebo was laughing his ass off at this, even though he could tell the other man was telling the truth. Outside however, he didn't look the least bit fazed. In fact, he didn't even look impressed. "Sure he did. Still looks like he's a noodle to me," he paused, "but how did he make those?" He asked, pointing to the webs curiously. "Not even the other brat can do that. Is he a mutant or something?"

Nick shook his head, knowing exactly who he was talking about. "I don't know, but I think I have an idea. I'll explain later. I'm pretty sure he isn't a mutant though." Nebo groaned childishly and scratched his head. "So much for porting his little ass of to Xavier's, then. Oh well, let's get out of here. I got pulled over so many times by bums asking to wash my front shield with rags I didn't even want to know where they were, I'm pretty sure I'll have to burn my wipers and bleach the glass before I feel safe touching it again." They started walking to the car.

Nick opened the passenger seat and was about to step in when he saw Peter staring at them, still in his same spot. He shook his head and sighed a little. "You coming kid?" Peter didn't know what to say. The day had started out so simple. He was jumping from rooftops to rooftops having the time of his life, and then it all spiraled down to this.

**_"Just to let you know, jumping from building to building isn't simple at all."_** Venom chided absently.

Nick heard a ruffling next to him and turned to see Nebo take a plastic baggy out of nowhere and pull a submarine sandwich out. He glared at him. "Is that why it took twenty minutes for you to get here?" Nebo shrugged and peeled the paper down off of the delicious sandwich. "Fifteen. What can I say? The people around here know how to make a mean sub."

Nick grinned and nodded. "Uh huh, I hear you." He snatched the sandwich from his hands and stepped outside the car, waving it in the air a little. "Still hungry kid?" Peter's eyes widened at the sandwich and he nodded, albeit hesitantly.

"All yours." Nick tossed the sandwich in front of him, much far away from Peter. Nebo yelled out in horror at the sight of a perfectly good waste of food, as there was no way Peter could catch it in time.

When it seemed like all was lost, a thin white line made a _thwip_ sound, and yanked the sandwich from the air. Nebo darted his eyes to Peter, who was now walking toward them, biting into the sandwich vigorously.

"How did you-" Nebo started to ask as Peter opened up the back seat and stepped inside, before shutting it.

Nick grinned a little and started the car for the dumbstruck, white haired man. "Psychology. You feed them, and they shall come."

If Peter thought his life was changing before, he sure would have a few surprises in the near future.

* * *

Whoo! It took me a while to get to this one. I went through TEN whole documents just to find the right scenario and I STILL am not sure if this was the best one! This _is_ going to cross into the Narutoverse, around the time Peter gets older, but I wanted to get in what his life was like before getting there. We all know how Naruto's life was like after all.

Nebo, is a character not widely known. I think his only appearance was in _Spider-Man vs Wolverine #1_ a couple of years ago. He was the one who trained Peter when he stayed in Russia to hone his powers and all that jazz. His appearance here does have sway with the story though, and he isn't mere canon fodder. As for Nick, I know his personality isn't anywhere near what it should be, and again, it is because he has a place in the story too.

I hate the end of the chapter for some reason. I just couldn't find a suitable reason for Peter to go with them other than that, whcih is pretty stupid to me. When I do I'll most likely edit this chapter.

As for the time Peter crosses into the Naruto-verse, that will take at _least_ another chapter. Sorry! ^^


	6. Prologue: Part 4

Peter instantly knew he wasn't in his part of the city before long. For one, there were no corner stores or abandoned cars or even _houses_. There was a big bridge over head surrounded by water on one side and construction things on another. Cranes, cars, dingy and rusting buildings galore.

He grinned. Sweet.

**_"You're easy to impress, aren't you?"_** Venom commented. Peter for the most part ignored it, but still scoffed indignantly when it felt like it was pushing the subject. He felt that the people outside looking at a five year old boy stare at them as he was driven away.

Then, they were all gone. The thin rail that separated the side walk from the water was gone and replaced by a high stone wall. Peter didn't know how long it took, but the next thing he knew they were well off the road and on an all-white one. To his surprise, a dock with a boat floating a few yards away from them, with the captain or whatever they called themselves were standing at the ready.

He didn't know why but he felt the urge to notice a quaint looking flower shop opposite from the water.

"Let's go." The Director of SHIELD said, undoing the locks he had engaged when Peter wasn't paying attention and opened the doors. Nebo came around the back to open the door for the two children next to Peter, but they shied away toward him as he hesitantly opened his own door and got out with him.

Peter walked after the two children who were being waved toward the boat by Nick. He could have sworn he heard something like a "stay here" inside his head or something, but shrugged it off.

When he got there, the driver looked from to the other two children and then at Nick with a bemused expression. At least it looked like that. Peter couldn't really tell because of the cloth covering a majority of his face and an orange book covering the place where he guessed his mouth was.

The Captain let down the book. "General Fury, may I ask what you are doing with three toddlers at sundown?" Nick glared at him. He sounded almost _amused._

"That's classified information." Nick said, his eyebrow twitching ever so slightly. "Sure it is, General." He didn't believe him.

What _was_ he doing with the three of the- oh. The car thing and shopping cart and… oh. He forgot. Peter shook his head and stared at the boat, suddenly finding it fascinating.

"Governor's Island, Coming up…" In a less than enthusiastic voice, the Captain said Nebo ushered the two children and Peter toward the inside of the boat.

**_'_**_So this is what a boat looks like? It's bigger then my entire room!"_

**_"Forget the boat, what're we going to do?" _**Peter's head snapped up. The voice inside his mind felt like it wasn't pleased and he had gotten used to it not talking for the day. _'What do you mean?' _He asked, then shivered. He could almost feel it roll its eyes. **_"You're not in any way at all bothered with this?" _**

_'Why should I be?'_ Peter retorted, trying to find a response. _'What else can we do?'_

**_"Good point…"_** The voice paused. **_"We could run?"_**

**_'_**_No.' _Peter flatly rejected the proposal, crossing his arms and shook his head.

He hadn't noticed the other two sticking to him like glue since they got on the boat until now. When he looked at them they backed away. Instead of paying attention at the girl looking at him and the boy noticing this and pouting, he looked at the scenery, or lack thereof.

Peter found himself looking all around him at the things on a boat with a wide smile. This was… _so awesome!_

Meanwhile, Nick was looking forward to the small mass of land that was getting closer and closer by the minute with a determined glance. In his hand, he held his cell phone that had yet to be turned on again. Something fishy was going on, and it wasn't the water either.

In the corner of his eye he caught a bright purple glint coming from Peter. He looked around and tilted his head in curiosity, forcing the confusing thoughts away for the time being. The glint was coming from a necklace, something that he hadn't noticed Peter had been wearing all this time, since it was hidden in his shirt. It was an odd mix between indigo and metallic, making it become a very and very shady purple that in this light, was really shiny. It almost looked like… no, it couldn't be.

It had been so long ago by now, he laughed still at the thought of it. His successor and his fiancée and her sister had given their best friend and the sister's fiancée a necklace that looked exactly like that. Though, he remembered it as blue in color and being much smaller with a string instead of steel.

"Kid," he muttered, but Nick knew Peter heard him. "Where'd you get that?"

Peter looked over and backed away at sight of the slightly intimidating man looking down on him. "What necklace?" Nick pointed to the nape of his neck, right where the collar of his shirt began. "That one."

"Huh?" Peter looked at the small glint it was giving off and frowned deeply. He was sure he put that weird necklace back in the box where he had found it! "I thought I put this thing back…" He muttered, making it obvious to Nick that he didn't even know he had been wearing the thing. "I found it. In a box." Nick grunted and appeared to let it go, though the train of thought he had recently aborted was changing his attitude, and it wasn't noticeable at all. Given he always looked like he was angry no one could tell the difference.

Nebo walked over to Peter and looked at the necklace and whistled in earnest. "That's some nice bling-bling you got there noodle boy." He glanced over Peter's shoulder and said straight into his ear and Peter jerked forward.

"Nebo you sound like a damn fool when you talk like that. Just sit in a corner and do something productive." The man let out a childish groan before a grin came onto his face. Peter followed to where his eyes were looking and nearly growled. He then noticed the girl looking at him with those weird white looking eyes of hers. He shivered and looked away. They were kind of… _creepy_.

"Hello little girl." Nebo grinned down at the white eyed youth. Peter's glanced at and he thought the look on his face was creepy too. "What's your name?" The white eyed girl started to play with her fingers and looked around for a second or so before she finally stuttered out an answer. "Mina…" Nebo's grin widened further. Nick raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "What? I'm doing something productive!" Mina stepped back a bit and started to stare at the ground, casting Peter a shy glance before looking at her feet again.

Nebo's grin split into a half devious smile and a creepy smirk on his face. "Brat come over here will you?" He asked aloud, not even bothering to turn around to face Peter. Peter blanched and shook his head. "No."

"What? Why not?" Stepping backward to the railing, Peter replied, "You're creepy."

Mina giggled and Nebo sputtered out something, but all Peter heard was, "Why you," before Nick interrupted. "He has a point. You never were good with kids, even when you were one. You always had that disturbing look on your face like you were ready to gobble them up. It was a bit creepy to me a few times too now that you mention it…" Peter smiled cheekily.

"Yeah, yeah gang up on me why don't you, you jerks. Get over there," he pushed Mina over to Peter, eliciting a mouse like squeak from her and walked over to Nick. "She's a mutie." He said quietly, so that they wouldn't hear them. The General raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound like a bad thing. Can the day get any worse?" He left the question hanging and rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed.

Nebo nodded, his face scrunching up a little. "I've seen the girl's eyes before. Can't exactly remember where, but there was an entire clan of 'em. She's probably from a family that came here and didn't have the best of luck." Nick nodded silently and crossed his arms. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, this was on the other side of the world. Do you see any people walking around with their eyes looking dead as hell?" Nick grunted in response. "Thought so. If I remember right, those eyes of theirs are supposed to have x-ray vision or something. No wonder why some of them worked in hospitals."

Nick almost didn't want to ask where the others worked, but he did anyway. Nebo shook his head. "Remember that case I told you about a few months back? Where someone made a point of killing mutants if they didn't agree to go along with their terms? That was HYDRA. These guys were some of their agents. The ones in the hospital were working on the inside; killing anyone who managed to survive if they were their patients."

There was a long pause before either of them spoke again. "What about the boy?" Nick asked, rubbing his nose again. It had become a habit. Nebo "Hm'ed" for a second or so before answering. "Same case as the girl. Family comes from the other side of the world to here thinking they can get away from persecution, and they get a rude surprise in return. They worked for HYDRA too. The two brats' parents probably came here to get away from HYDRA." He frowned.

Nick knew how HYDRA operated. If you weren't with them, you were against them, and that made you the enemy. If you were an enemy… you were dead. But if you were with them, it was because of the medical benefits. After all, who could beat the promise that for every thing you lose, something better and stronger would take its place?

He rolled his eyes. Bull crap.

In any sense he didn't want to think what happened to these kids' parents, but it was necessary. "What could the boy's family do?"

Well, if my theory is right, which it probably is, then I'd say that they were feral."

"What?"

"You know, animalistic. The neighborhood where they lived was pretty good though. They had a lot of dogs, too. I had taken some notes on them but-"

"You erased them for your 'notes', you perverted idiot." Nick rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, they're like werewolves, without all the hair. I had pissed off one of them when I flirted with his wife. Actually, he called her his 'bitch' but I don't think he meant it in a bad way. She had kindly referred herself as his mate and-" Nick slapped him upside the head again. "Get to the damn point already!"

"They used the dogs. It was like they could speak to them. Next thing I knew, I was getting double teamed by some punk and his mutt. Annoying little bastards they were. When I finally explained to them it was an accident, they introduced me to their 'society'. Apparently they have all of their senses heightened on par with dogs. Hearing, sight, strength of a human sized mutt, the whole nine-yards. And claws sharp as hell too." He ran his hands across his forearms and winced.

Nick nodded once more and looked between the two children for a brief second. Things were getting interesting now. "Okay. Now, the last things I want to know before my head explodes is How in the hell do you know all of this? W-Where did you _find_ these people?"

Nebo shrugged. "Some village."

"A-And what country? Japan? China? Europe? What?"

"Oh no this place was in one of the biggest forests I had ever seen. If I didn't get there when I did, I would have probably gone insane. I wouldn't be surprised if it was on the map either. It could be a pocket dimension from that time the Negative Zone exploded out, though."

"How do I not hear about these things?"

"You're always in your office with paperwork and stuff." Nebo stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "That place-where the dog people were I mean- smelled like unholy piss too. They 'marked' their things just like mutts, but in my opinion they took it a little too far. Where ever that craphole is now the property values are probably all shit."

Nick frowned ever so slightly, "I expected as much." He sighed. "Take out the Christmas tree and put me under it. God I'm getting too old for this."Nebo patted the man on the back and chuckled. "Come on teach! Don't tell me that a senior citizen like you is getting tired already? Just think of when you took me and Natasha in and this'll be a cinch!" Nick glared at him. "Maybe not, but I sure as hell ain't taking them in. Except maybe the noodle brat. He's got spunk."

"Please you just want to corrupt him with your books like you did with me. Why not the other one?"

"He's going to be a _big_ one. Trust me. I can see that in his eyes too. The girl could go either way, but she'll be a secret one. It's always the quiets ones, teach." Nick laughed a sardonic laugh and slapped Nebo's hand off of his shoulder. "Don't let Natasha hear you say that. She'll knock you through the door again. _While it's_ locked."

"Pfft, whatever. I'm not afraid of that alcoholic sucker."

"Speaking of which… Here we are." Nick looked at the mass of land which was now only about thirty or twenty feet away and sighed again.

During their conversation that they knew was being overheard by the driver, Peter was looking at Mina curiously. She didn't look to creepy up front, but she would keep looking at him with her eyes on the ground like she was scared. After a few seconds of silence between the two of them she spoke. "H…Hello." He leaned forward, barely able to her that little squeak.

Mina shuffled her feet shyly, "T-Thank you for saving me…" Now _that_ he heard. It wasn't a product of her voice being raised, but because she had said something worth listening to, at least to him that is. "It was nothing special. Anybody could have done it really," he straightened up a little and puffed out his chest and felt Venom roll it's 'eyes'. **_"I helped too you know."_**

_'Quiet you.'_

"Yes… U-Uhm, a-are hurt?" She asked, tilting her head up ever so slightly so he could see her face again. "Nope," he froze for a second and leaned in closer the next, causing her to darken in pink and flinch back. "Are you blind?" He obnoxiously asked. Of course he didn't know that but those eyes of hers had been bothering him for a while. Maybe that was why she looked down all the time, so she wouldn't walk into anything.

**_"She's shy."_**

"Uhm… no… my eyes- they were always like this…" She started to play with her fingers again.**_"So they've always been so weird and freakish like that? Lucky her."_**

"Hey be quiet!" Peter hissed at the creature aloud. By the time he realized what he said, the girl had flinched back and covered her hands with her face.**_ "Nice. Now throw her over board so we don't have to deal with weirdness."_**

Peter ignored the rude comment and attempted to correct himself. "I-uh, not you! I meant…" Mina looked at the ground and looked back up at him and looked back down again, her mouth opening and shutting before she could say anything. Peter groaned a little. "Y-you have something in your hair," he pointed at her forehead and she jumped back a little. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm not going to hit you," she let out another squeak but didn't stop him from pulling a piece of glass from her hair. Peter looked it over and shrugged his shoulders and tossed it into the water.

"T-Thank you. Again…" He looked at her and smiled a little. "No problem. Again- oh! Who's that?" She followed his finger to the boy behind her who had been slowly moving forward ever since he had been talking to her. He had noticed a little, but pretty much ignored him until now.

The other boy scowled lightly at him and pulled Mina behind him and barred his teeth at him. Peter furrowed his eyebrows, "Hi to you too." The boy pushed Mina behind him more and his eyes turned into slits, surprising Peter a little. The tingling in the back of his head went off faintly but he could still feel it. He scratched his head. _'Why now of all times?'_

The sight of the boy's teeth getting longer along with his fingernails getting longer. _'Oh! That- ohhhh… '_

To the side, Nebo slapped Nick's shoulder twice. "You said you wanted to know what they could do, don't pass up the chance Old Man."

Nick shook his head and rolled his eyes when the slit-eyed boy growl at Peter. "Separate them." He spoke with commanding finality that would make almost anyone obey. Keyword: almost. Nebo scoffed and slapped his hand on the shorter man's back. "When else are we going to see what they can do? Now is a better time than any, besides, if we had a camera and some popcorn we could have a movie!" Nick slapped the hand off of him again but didn't say anything else. He had a point. Well, half of one, he couldn't count on him to think too hard when he wasn't serious.

He looked at Peter and then to the boy and girl and muttered with some small amount of interest, "He's protective of her, hm." Then, he filed away the way boy's eyes were repeatedly dilating and shrinking into slits, as though they had trouble staying that way, but the fingernails stayed the same. That could be of some use later, he supposed.

He looked back at the three children and was surprised to see that the girl looked as if had given up fighting a useless and pointless battle after protesting only once. Any other time he would have thought she was just scared or weak willed from the personality of hers he had seen, but the way she pouted and slightly glared at the back of his head told him that she had experienced it before, and enough times to be used to it.

And then there was the little enigma of the group. He didn't look at all unsettled, like he was expecting this. It was either that or he was stupid and calm, or stubborn. Somehow Nick didn't doubt that somehow these two traits managed to coexist without a hitch.

Years of being in situations with superheroes had taught him that if someone or something is doing something dangerous to _be on guard_ and _not taunt them_. Maybe the kid was a tiny bit screwed up in the head from earlier and that's why he stuck his tongue out.

He glanced at the other boy, Jake and saw he _did_ look like a feral animal, somewhat. Both canines were elongated and he was doing a pose that dogs did when they challenged something. His legs were poised back and he was hunched over like one as well. The General frowned. This was becoming interesting, and coming from him, that meant something. Nebo elbowed him twice and raised his eyebrows repeatedly. "Eh? Eh? What I tell ya? I was right!"

Peter, following along with the oblivious notion that the other boy wished to play with him, continued on. Although, the Symbiotes was confused as to why it had come out as an insult, more or less. It had _tried _to influence him to use those webs of his to bind him to the ground, but he jumped out of the way instead. "Missed me!"

Jake lunged at him with one stretched out, partially clawed hand, eyes sharp like a razor. Peter jumped back again, landing at the back of the boat, perching precariously on the rail. "Nanana nana!"

Nick stepped forward to stop him since the kid's legs were pretty stubby and not very fast, but Nebo gripped his arm with a wide grin while shaking his head. "Look." Nick scowled and grunted out, "Wha- oh."

Not a foot away from where he once was, the boy had tripped. As he hit the ground he let out a puppy like whimper and held his knee. The General smirked a little. "What did you expect to see? He's _five_." Nebo commented, only to get a slap to the side of the head.

"Enough! Settle down now." He called out just as Mina ran to the whimpering little boy. "Jake!" She exclaimed.

"Your name is Jake? Well it's not very original, is it? You should have a classic name like Bob… or Joe! Yeah, or an awesome one like mine." Peter commented, shrugging cockily. A silence followed.

"General Fury, we're here." The driver, obviously not being able to read the mood as his eyes were stuck in the book, broke the silence which had, unknowingly become stagnant and uncomfortable. Of course, Nick knew that. The kid was staring at the other kid with a cocky smirk that looked severely out of place, and it was one he knew well.

He cleared his throat as the boat closed in to the dock and the small, almost silent humming of the engine stopped. Two people that Nick had been expecting to see when they arrived were standing right to the side of the boat, one of them a woman with a scowl on her face and her hair tied back into a ponytail with a tuft of hair hanging over her face. With her hands on her hips like that she almost looked motherly. Though knowing no mother figure could drink anyone he knew under the table and still be sober enough to throw a table around the room like a paper weight, he ignored it.

The other one was a young man with a faint, almost barely visible scar on his nose, and calm, serious expression on his face. His hair was tied back in a black bandana and on his torso was an equally black vest. Actually, he was pretty much covered in black, Nick noted absently. Although, his composure was frequently broken went every few seconds he twitched like something was crawling all over his skin.

"Ah," Nick nodded toward the driver before turning around to the people outside of the boat. "Romanoff, Mulligan." He nodded once more, as was the traditional way of addressing other people in his line of business, or at least the overly clichéd precedent in his opinion. "Thank you for coming."

"Hi!" Peter yelled exuberantly, jumping off the rail and onto the ground with ease, and then running to the front of the boat and around the General's legs. Though Nick saw that that smirk was gone and replaced by a wide, playful smile. "Hi." This would have been okay if it were for his perching on one of the poles that went in the water.

Natasha Romanoff, aka the Black Widow, crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow at Nick. "Is there anything you would like to tell us, _General?"_


	7. Prologue: Part 5

Alright this one is short. Obviously. But only one left until the final prologue chapter and its going to be a _lot_ crammed into that one so it'll be the longest one yet. After that, say hello to mister fishpaste and friends.

* * *

His eyes went from both ends of the room more times than he cared to count. His gaze fixed on the controlled argument taking place between all the adults he never knew he'd ever meet, he was beginning to get dizzy. The bald one, Nick, head director of SHIELD and General of the organization as well, was whispering words he couldn't hope to hear.

The other adult, a much taller man with short white hair casually sat back in a _really_ shiny chair spouting rebuttals while being verbally attacked by a red headed woman dressed in an equally shiny black outfit with a strange dot on her head. He peered from the doorway, only noticed by the only silent participant in the room, a man with a large gash on his nose and a badge on his chest.

He ignored him for the most part and wished the man would do the same, but he wouldn't. Whispers went through his head in a distorted tone, beckoning him to attack or yell or some things he didn't even know what they were. They were ignored to, despite the constant feeling of his clothing bristling against his skin like a worm, occasionally flicking him in the neck swiftly.

Every few seconds he'd look to the man, who was as expressive and moving just as much. He said nothing, revealed his location to no one, and merely stared, and it was beginning to get disturbing.

Underneath his dark blue jacket was a white shirt stained with a dark red substance, which was washed out in blue. Confusedly, he looked elsewhere, at the badge on his chest. _'Policeman,'_ the distorted voice whispered inside of his head, causing pictures of guns and cars he had sometimes seen outside his home to rapidly flash through his mind. There were shootings, walkie-talkies, motorcycles and helmets, really big things that looked tough, and much, much more.

Unknowingly, he whispered, "They can't do all of that _alone_." He'd been referring to the big, tough things, like that gigantic green guy that they'd tried to shoot a few months back. He hadn't seen it, but he felt like he was there. Falling from the sky and knocking the green monster into the ground with amazing strength, and throwing it down the street like it was a baseball. He touched his chest- the badge was etched in there, in a faded red substance that melted into blue as it came closer to his legs. The eyes were almost non-existent, only showing up as small white slits from the back of his head to his nose. He felt himself moving in a blur out of the way of _bullets_, some of which embedded themselves in his back, but fell out onto the ground without hurting him.

And then… it was gone. The images- No, it was like a video being played from first person, ended like a light being dimmed until it turned off. He blinked rapidly and found himself staring at the argument that the head of SHIELD was having with those people, Nebo and Natasha if he remembered right, and tilted his head, confused when he realized that they had stopped arguing and were instead staring somewhere else – him.

Something told him to duck behind the doorway and to the side where he had come from, though it wasn't that little buzz in his head. Instead it felt like the right thing to do. Common sense was what it was called, but unfortunately he had acted to slow and missed his chance.

The red headed lady across the room turned to look at Nick, frowning as she asked, "That- _He's_ the one that found _it?"_ Her eyebrows raised pass the clean cut bang she had and Nick nodded solemnly. "Well I'll be damned. What is he?"

"Not human." The badged man muttered under his breath, just loud enough for everybody to hear him.

Natasha brushed her read hair back and gave him a look. "What's that supposed to mean?" The badged man looked back with a somewhat impatient look and sighed. "He's not… _normal_. "

"Are you saying he's a mutant? Because we don't need any more mutants right now!"

"Nope, but those other two brats are." Natasha gave the white haired man a look as well, as if to ask him how he knew it. A second later, she slumped her shoulders and relented. "Yes, it's my specialty."

They sat and stood in silence before Natasha looked over at him confused. "What the hell is he standing over there for?" He backed up a little bit, his eyebrows knitted together as he held the wall close, slowly edging behind it until all that was visible was his head.

"Ha! And you said I was bad with kids, old man! I think he's scared of you, Natasha!" The woman scoffed and crossed her arms stubbornly. "Don't be stupid."

"Don't worry, if I was him, I'd be scared of you too! Ow!" He couldn't help but laugh when Natasha hit Nebo over the head swiftly, without even opening her eyes. It made her smile. Nebo rubbed his head and glared at the little boy. "Sadistic little bast-"

"Nebo!" Nick yelled timely.

"What?" The white haired man shouted back. "Ow!" Nick smacked him upside the head on his temple, causing him to swivel a little. "Son of a-" Nick and Natasha held their hands over his head menacingly, ready to strike. Nebo sank back into his chair, muttering things Peter couldn't hear under his breath. "Never mind. Damn old bastard…"

Nick pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Kid, get over here." He beckoned, waving his hand in his direction. The boy stared at him and the others for a second before his eyes fell on the man with the badge. "Come on kid, no one is going to hurt you." Under his breath he muttered, "Doubt any one could at the moment anyway…"

It wasn't until the man with the badge nodded that he walked from the doorway, only three feet into the room, standing as still as a statue. Nicholas rolled his eyes. "Kid, what's your name?"

Peter waited until the badged man nodded. "Peter."

Nick grunted. "Last name?"

Peter fidgeted a bit, looking almost guilty until his clothes bristled against his skin. "Um, it's not mine. I-I borrowed it."

The adults of the room shared looks and the majority of them turned to the badged man, who shrugged stoically. "Doesn't matter. What is it kid?"

Despite the fact that he'd been asked that question three times that day, Peter felt obliged to answer. "It's Parker. Peter Parker."

Natasha turned to look at Nicholas with wide eyes and Peter looked on curiously as she whispered under her breath something he couldn't hear. All he caught was, "Parker?" To which Nick nodded and replied, "Now you see my problem." Natasha slapped her sides and turned away, blowing her hair up with a large exhale of air. "Great, not only are we facing kidnapping charges but we could get reprimanded by someone _I'm _in charge of, get sued by the city, and have to deal with child endangerment charges too!" She pointed to Nick. "This is _your_ fault! Fix this before it gets out of hand damn it!"

The head of SHIELD seemed to ignore her angry demand and turned back to Peter after waving Natasha's hand from him face. "Kid, do you know who I am?" Peter nodded. "I'm Nick. I'm the head of SHIELD. I deal with stuff you could never hope to understand, and hopefully you won't have to." Peter felt that somehow, he was wrong. "And now, you're a part of one of those things."

When he tilted his head in confusion for the umpteenth time, Nick looked to Nebo, who stood up and patted his legs. "How do I put this delicately? Ah, okay. You saved two children from being crushed to death in a horrible, gory demise in a rusty shopping cart and proceeded to, what was it? Oh yes, throw one child from the cart to land in a net of webbing, and flip from said cart and adhere to a nearby wall, before dropping twenty feet down _safely_." Nebo looked to Nick. "Is that about it?" The bald dark skinned man nodded.

"As such," Nicholas continued. "I have to ask, what the hell happened to you?"

The badged man interrupted with a cough. "He's not a mutant. Even if he is, he's too young for his abilities to activate."

"Well those other two brats sleeping in the back sure as hell are mutants! The other little brat turned into an ugly ass pitbull thing and tried to rip this one apart!" Nebo protested, pointing to the back of the room.

"Kid?" Nick asked, looking at him expectantly.

"I still say we should hall their asses off to Xavier's and let him deal with it." Natasha broke in, scoffing. "He's the most experienced with mutants anyway."

"He is _not_ a mutant, Ms. Romanoff." The badged man said once more, but with a slight edge to his voice. Peter backed away just a little as he looked up at her with his head down, showing the bags in his eyes.

"I didn't say that he was! I was talking about those other two dammit!"

"Whoa, there's still at least a three percent margin of error on my part that they could be human, well not human but something else, and at the most, five percent" Nebo added, raising his hands to call the attention of the red headed woman before she broke a vessel.

"With _you_ predicting anything there would be much more than just a 'three percent margin of error'!"

"An educated guess is better than anything else we have, sweetie." The tall man smiled, only to be smacked upside the head and pushed aside.

Peter looked to Nicholas who had struck Nebo just before Natasha did and she was left with her hand hanging in the air as well as a surprised look on her face. She blinked and let it fall, muttering under her breath that she wasn't a sweetie.

"Now as _I_ was saying," Nicholas glared at the other occupants on the room, causing them to remain silent just as they prepared to speak again. "Kid, do you know what happened to you?"

Peter was about to say something but apparently Nicholas' glare hadn't been enough to keep Natasha at bay. She scoffed again. "You're asking the kid? What we should be doing is taking them all in to be tested for an X-gene or modified DNA strands! They could have been edited in the fetus or placenta for all we know, hell, they could be double agents from HYDRA!"

Nicholas simply stared at her. "Do you hear a damn thing you're saying? _DO_ you?" He tapped her on the head and she stumbled a bit. "Since you're so vocal about it, you can be the one to test them. You're the best when it comes to medics and all that other stuff, so _you_ test them. If they are positive, we _might _send them off to Xavier's _after _finding their next of kin, and then _you_ can do the paperwork for the donation to add a new lodging to Xavier's mansion so they'll have a place to sleep. Good? Great."

"W-What? That's completely unfair!" Natasha sputtered.

"That is an _order_, agent Romanoff. Now go attend to your duty before I have you clean up the mess hall on the Helicarrier."

In that instant, Peter felt a shiver go down his spine as the woman glared at him. He suddenly felt that she no longer liked him anymore. He looked after her as she briskly walked out of the room and then a few seconds later a door slammed shut and he was quite sure he could hear her talking outside. Looking at the rest of them, he noticed that they all could. After that, he idly shifted from side to side, his eyesight mostly remaining on the badged man who hadn't even been looking at him, yet he felt as if he was being watched by something else. Venom was strangely silent throughout all of it as well.

"Kid," Nicholas snapped him out of his daze. "What happened to you?"

Knowing exactly what he met from the conversation that he had awkwardly observed, Peter gulped. "I was bit… By a spider."

The one-eyed man raised his eyebrow and briefly looked at Nebo and the badged man and the former shrugged. "A spider. Really?"

Peter nodded exuberantly, innocently mistaking the man's sarcasm for genuine interest. "Oh yeah mister Fury! It was _this_ big too!" His stretched his arms as wide as he could. "And it landed straight on my hand! And it left this really _big_ bite on it too! It hurt, but it didn't bleed though, and it was all puffy too!"

Peter held out his left hand, which up until then nick hadn't noticed was more pink and looked to be inflamed compared to the red one. He focused his attention on it and immediately saw the sight of two fang marks right by to joint to Peter's forearm. The pits inside were crusted with dried blood and puss from what he could see, but there was indeed no obvious or rather, visible sign of blood anywhere else on his hand.

He made a grab to bring his hand closer, only to find his hand about to be enveloped by a sheet of sharply edged black tar that was rising from the hand like it was water. Scowling, he glanced at the man with the badge, who Peter noticed rolled his eyes and backed away. Or, in the gesture the creature on the kid was giving, he did as he was told and 'Backed off.'

This went unnoticed by Peter, who stiffened his arm and grinned. "Now I can do this and a whole other bunch of stuff too!" He pressed his innermost fingers to his palm and straightened the others. Nick jumped out of the way as a thin strand of white webbing came forth from his wrist, hitting and engulfing the lamp across the room on his $200 stand.

Having already seen it and filed it away for later study and contemplation, he was unhindered by the fact that his $300 lamp was now covered in webbing. "And what about your," he took account of Peter's laughing as the sheet of tar reduced itself to a small pillar and receded into his hand and filed it away for later, "friend here? Where did it come from?"

"It came after the spider." Peter said, looking at his hand as if trying to get the creature to pop up again. "It almost ate it too." With his attention distracted he sounded just a little better than disinterested, but it was to be expected. I can do this too." He turned his hand over so his palm faced the floor and twitched it a little and the head of SHIELD watched as a black line of what he surmised was still 'webbing' shot from the small gray patch near his knuckles. It hid the curtains in a small net and stuck them to the window. Nick looked at Nebo and the badged man again and both of them shrugged. He turned back around and pinched his nose.

Kneeling down, he placed his hand on Peter's shoulders slowly, so as to not set off the damned parasite on his. Hopefully it wasn't _in_ him yet. Getting his attention, he looked him directly in the eye, knowing he wouldn't be able to later when they pulled the thing off. "Peter, I want you to tell me where you got bit by the spider, where did your friend come from, where your family is and where do you live. This is of the utmost importance."

He saw his eyes dash to Patrick Mulligan, who nodded in confirmation and the red tendril set down his glass of tea and receded into his shoulder. Peter nodded as well and his clothes seemed to _bristle_ under Nick's hand like a bag of worms.

"Well, a few days ago, I went to this exhibit…"

"Alone?" Nebo asked.

When the boy nodded, Nick asked, "What about your family? Your father, mother?" His expression became hardened. "Your aunt and uncle?" He hoped he wasn't right. He sincerely did. This could be a different one, he thought to himself. He wouldn't have to pin those two with child abandonment. But if he was, he'd be a ward of SHIELD and then…

"I don't have any." Peter said without hesitation, causing the man to wince just a little. He had loosened up though.

"And where do you live?" He pressed on.

"By myself." Peter grinned up at him a little. He seemed to be proud of that. Nick smirked a little and rolled his eyes. "_Where?_"

After another moment of looking at Mulligan, Peter continued. "This old store on the corner of fity- fify.. uh…" He paused and lowered his head only to pop back up once more. "Fifth street and Johnson by the docks!"

Sighing internally, Nick nodded. "Alright Peter, I want you to tell me everything now."

Again, the boy looked one last time at Mulligan, who Nick noticed had his attention trained on him as well and he nodded at the both of them. The kid coughed a little and said, "Well, it was an exhibit on geni-er, 'genetically enhanced arachnids'." He stated with almost perfect pronunciation. "And one of the spiders went missing…"

Nick had a feeling that he was going to need a drink later. But nevertheless, he didn't allow his attention to wander as the kid did as he was told and told them everything.


End file.
